My dad taught me two important lessons about food that I still live by. One, your plate should be colorful. It says you’ve got the variety of vitamins your body needs. And two, always try a new food or at least a new restaurant when you travel.
Both these lessons have served me well. I truly appreciate not only the visual beauty of a colorful plate of food, but I also enjoy knowing I’m giving my body the fuel it needs to thrive. And so far, I can say my food adventures in visiting new restaurants or trying new things has been a nice surprise. Here’s the latest adventure recently while in LA.
Ramen
My daughter goes to school in Southern California and has tried many different restaurants and foods with friends. So, when we go to visit, she generally has a restaurant or two picked out that we might visit. Last time out we got Pho…her personal favorite. This time, we decided we would try Ramen.
When my son visited her once, friends took him out for Ramen, and he LOVED it. No, I mean when a 20 something guy continues to talk about a meal for THIS LONG after the trip, that’s saying something. So, naturally, I wanted to try it, too.
Saturday afternoon found us in Santa Monica waiting to get into Jinya Ramen Bar (not an advertisement, just my own opinions here). There were three of us, and we decided we’d order three different dishes so we could all taste several options.
Jinya Chicken Ramen
![I tried the mild but comforting Chicken Ramen](https://missmelliecooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_3157.jpg)
The most decidedly tame of the three, mine was quite yummy with large slices of chicken, lots or noodles, and my personal favorite, fried onion tangles on top. Great chicken broth taste and thin noodles…would be fantastic if you were feeling under the weather and just needed the warm comfort of great chicken broth to soothe you.
Shrimp Wonton Ramen
![Shrimp Wonton Ramen](https://missmelliecooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_4788.jpg)
A spicy version with shrimp-filled wonton added to the mix. Tangy broth, but I liked the wonton better than the broth. This one also had thicker noodles.
Tonkotsu Spicy
![Try a new food - Ramen!](https://missmelliecooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_5375.jpg)
My daughter has decided this is her favorite and ordered it with medium spice. Pretty good heat in that red broth over the pork and veggies. Again, this one had the thicker noodles.
Successful tasting adventure!
Overall, everyone enjoyed their meal and the opportunity to try more than one dish. Turns out we each chose what was best for us without trying too hard. But it was nice to taste the other options as well. While my daughter remains convinced Pho is better, I’m thinking Ramen would be my choice. Next visit, more food adventures! (We cooked some new things too…but that story will have to wait till another time!)
Do you try new things like this when traveling? What’s the best or most interesting thing you’ve tried stateside? I’d love to hear about your food adventures in the comments below!
BTW this isn’t a sponsored post, just my own personal opinion of my experience here.
Want more food adventures? Check these out!
That Ramen looks and sounds delicious!
We had the best pizza ever at Juliana’s in Brooklyn, NY. It had mozzarella, scamorza affumicata, pancetta* (italian bacon), scallions and oregon-grown white truffles in olive oil – no tomato. Yum!
Thanks for the great post!!
haha I knew what the pancetta was but what is scamorza affumicata? That reminds me there is one ingredient in all the ramen I need to look up as well…always learning!
Some sort of cheese I had never heard of before 😂 But it was yummy!!!
Hahaha LOTS of cheese out there I guess…glad it was good!